Grammarly Readability Score — What It Means, How to Check It Free Without Premium

Grammarly shows a readability score in its editor, but the detailed metrics require Premium ($12/month). Here is what the score actually means, how it is calculated, and how to get the same readability metrics for free.

What Grammarly's Readability Score Actually Is

Grammarly uses the Flesch Reading Ease formula for its readability score. It is a 0-100 scale:

Grammarly Score	Meaning	Grade Level Equivalent	Audience
90-100	Very easy to read	Grade 5	Universal — anyone
80-89	Easy	Grade 6	Consumer content, simple instructions
70-79	Fairly easy	Grade 7	Magazines, standard blog posts
60-69	Standard	Grade 8-9	News articles, business writing
50-59	Fairly difficult	Grade 10-12	Industry reports
30-49	Difficult	College	Academic, technical
0-29	Very confusing	Graduate+	Legal, scientific research
Negative	Extremely complex	Post-graduate	Should probably be rewritten

Grammarly Free vs Premium — Readability Features

Feature	Grammarly Free	Grammarly Premium ($12/mo)	WildandFree (Free)
Basic text score	✓ Yes	✓ Yes	✓ Yes
Flesch Reading Ease	~Shown but limited detail	✓ Full detail	✓ Full detail
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level	✗ No	~Shown as "audience level"	✓ Yes — exact grade
Gunning Fog Index	✗ No	✗ No	✓ Yes
SMOG Score	✗ No	✗ No	✓ Yes
Vocabulary level	✗ Premium	✓ Yes	✗ No
Sentence variety	✗ Premium	✓ Yes	✗ No
Grammar checking	✓ Basic	✓ Advanced	✗ Separate tool
Data privacy	~Text sent to Grammarly servers	~Text sent to servers	✓ 100% local
Account required	✗ Yes	✗ Yes	✓ No account needed

How to Get Grammarly-Level Readability Scores Free

Grammarly is great for grammar checking. But for readability specifically, you can get more scores from a free dedicated tool:

1. Readability scoring: Our readability scorer — Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, SMOG all in one paste
2. Grammar checking: Grammar fixer — catches errors without Grammarly Premium
3. Sentence simplification: Tone rewriter — set to "Simple" to automatically simplify complex sentences
4. Word count and stats: Word counter — characters, words, sentences, paragraphs

Combined, these free tools cover everything Grammarly Premium offers for readability — plus Gunning Fog and SMOG that Grammarly does not include at any price.

Why Your Grammarly Score Is Low (and How to Fix It)

If your Grammarly readability score is under 50, here are the usual culprits:

Problem	How to Spot It	Fix
Sentences too long	Average over 20 words/sentence	Split at conjunctions (and, but, because)
Complex vocabulary	Words with 3+ syllables	Replace: utilize→use, approximately→about
Passive voice	"was done by" patterns	Rewrite: "The team completed" not "was completed by the team"
Nested clauses	Multiple commas, "which" chains	Break into separate sentences
Technical jargon	Industry-specific terms	Define on first use or replace with common words
Dense paragraphs	5+ sentences per paragraph	Break into 2-3 sentence paragraphs